Saturday, September 27, 2008

If there is anybody reading this who has followed our harvests over the last few years they will know that many of the problems that we have faced have not been down to mother nature, but more often due to the technical vagaries of our equipment.

In our office for example, our computers are protected by UPS (no, not the parcel company, but back-up batteries that cut in when our power supply fails). Now, try to imagine what happens in the middle of your harvest, when you have both your presses and your refridgeration system working at full tilt, and the power goes.....

There can be no doubt that the power supply in our village is stretched when Castro Martin and other neighbouring bodegas are working at full potential, but we have managed to avoid this problem over the last two years by picking earlier than other cellars. This year however, it would seem that everyone is taking advantage of the 'window' in the weather that we are enjoying, and so the local grid must now be under some strain.

In these circumstances, we have decided to pay a small 'insurance premium' by hiring a large generator to cover our needs should the system fail. I have no doubt that having done this everything will function perfectly, but at least we have bought a little peace of mind.

So, apart from a slight hiccup with the new cooling system that stopped working for an hour or two, a puncture in one our trailers, and the usual hectic period of activity in the early evening (when the majority of grapes arrive), our Saturday was more or less uneventful.

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention my own person disaster of yesterday, when I realised that I had run out of tea bags. Now, anyone who knows me will know how serious this is, so bad infact, that I nearly had to go on strike!